LET THE JOURNEY BEGIN
Student Trip Blog
Leaders Nora and Tyra led the group in today’s trip to downtown Turrialba.
To begin our day, we had a delicious breakfast. We had queso tortillas, with a side of fruit (bananas, watermelon, and mango). After breakfast, we had our daily mental warm up meeting, where we spoke about the quote of the day (¨We are not rich by what we posess but by what we can do without¨) and the question of the day (How does it feel to support others? Can one person make a difference?) We revisited these both at the end of the day to reflect on how they related to our experience in Downtown Turrialba! After our meeting, we started our walk to the bus stop. The walk was up a large hill surrounded by a beautiful field of farms and mountains. The view helped with the pain of walking up the steep mountain. The views outside the bus were so beautiful, they distracted us from the length and bumpy roads of the trip.
Once we arrived in Downtown Turrialba, we headed towards the shops. Our first stop was a park. Some people bought copos (Costa Rican ice cream) from a steet vendor. Others walked around, or went to the playground. We all got a glimpse of what it is like to live in an urban area. After we learned about some of the history of the park, we went to a local church. It was so beautiful that we had to stop and take pictures, and stay there for a while. After that, we began to enter some stores and do some window shopping. Some of us got food. Zion got a brownie from a bakery. We (Tyra and Nora) bought some things from thrift stores and other local small businesses. Jasleen bought a spiderman notebook and a poncho, Christian bought a Costa Rican Uno Game (Dos), Matthew bought a basketball, and London bought shorts.
After we concluded our shopping, we gathered to head back to the bus. Since it was raining, we all got under our umbrellas and in our ponchos, then hurried back to the bus stop. We got on the bus, and headed back to the Lodge. Once we reached the Lodge, we took a quick 45 minute break. Most of us took a nap, or played board games! Both of us (Tyra and Nora) took a 25 minute nap before lunch!
For lunch, we ate fish, rice, beans, plantains, salad, tomatoes, and cucumbers. For a refresher, we drank fresh orange juice. My (Nora) favorite part of the meal was the fish, because it was our first time having it here in Costa Rica! My (Tyra) favorite part of the meal was definitely the plantains, as it is a staple in my household!
After lunch, we began our CAP Seminar meeting as preparation for our community action project! We discussed efficient ways to construct our plan for how we were going to manage our work on water pipes in the neighborhood. Additionally, we discussed how were going to work with the local elementary school, during our cultural exchange meeting. We spoke about how we were planning on splitting in groups to tackle multiple different tasks and activities with the young children.
During calls with our parents, we had downtime to hang out in the Lodge. Some played basketball with Matt, some explored the property, some played games, and others conversed. Tyra and I played basketball!
After freetime, we began the conclusion of the day with dinner! We ate spaghetti with meat and salsa, along with garlic bread, and parmesan cheese. After this, we had our nightly meeting where we discussed the quote and question of the day, and shared our favorite things that we did! We shared our rose and thorns, which are pros and cons of the day, as well as our plus and a wish, which is constructive feedback for our peers! A popular rose was the experience of visiting downtown and experiencing the culture, and a popular thorn was having to hang up on our parents due to the phone call time limit. A popular plus given to the leaders was that we were able to get everywhere on time throughout the day, and a wish was that we stayed positive despite the rain and stress of getting to each destination.
Today was a great day, full of culture, social activities, and discovery. We had so much fun as leaders and learned so much. We love Turrialba!
Big Love,
Nora and Tyra
Comments (34)
Zenefar
Everyday i am waiting to read this part enjoy your every single moment . Love you baba 😍
J. Rodriguez
Hey Saramia, I’m glad to that see that you’re safe and that you’re having fun. I hop you’ve been having an amazing time at Costa Rica, everything looks so nice, environment, food, etc. Also, as you’re also probably wondering, everything is going well with me and Genesys Works so far. I’ve met a few new people and I’ve just overall got along with everyone even though there still a lot of people I need to talk to because it’s a big group. Tomorrow were going to Central Park to do a group building activity and to get to know everyone better. Have fun and please be careful.
Goodnight, I hope you have amazing dreams and an amazing day tomorrow.
From: Bear
hye sook Seo
Hyomin^^
As we look at your life in the blog, told day by day, we imagine what it would be like there too.
I was so happy to hear that you were doing well on the phone yesterday, and it brought tears to my eyes to hear that you were missing us too.
I wonder if you made many friends and if you like the food well.
Don’t be sick…
I think it was a great experience to share many opinions with people while living there.
I hope each day is a time to be thankful for what we have been given.
I love you so much
Daniela Nanau
Dear Olivia,
I was very happy to read about your amazing trip to town and all of the good food that you guys are being served. It sounds like a dream. Despite the bumpy bus rides and walks up big hills, I hope you remember to enjoy. Eat a mango for me and try to get some yogurt if your stomach is still messed up because that will help.
Love you and miss you so much!!!! Best to my friend Gilbert!!
Your mama
Elizabeth Elsass
I cannot wait to hear more about your work on the water pipes! That sounds like a very important and needed project. Sounds like you’ll be building many new muscles on this trip. Those plantains look delicious. YUM! Make sure to look up at the stars in the clear sky — I bet you can really see them well from Turrialba! When I saw the moon last night I thought of you because we see the same one (from slightly different angles)! We love you so much! Big xxx and ooo
B. Rodriguez
Hey Saramia,
I hope you enjoyed the day. Dios te bendiga mi amor bello.
Te amo-
mami y papi
Andre Ware
I’m so proud of y’all!!!! These photos are great, and it’s incredible to see you all bonding. Reading these blogs are the highlight of my day.
Each and every one of you are the highlight of my day!!
Now only if we can get Zion to smile in more photos… 🙂 (just kidding!!)
Cassius
Hey Ava, we all miss you. You are not missing much here. It’s very hot and very humid. Those plantains sure look good! I wish I was there with you. Hope you found some good board games to play. See you soon!
Lesdia
Hi Summer, everything went well with grandpa. Hope you are enjoying your time there. ❤️u mom and dad.
S. Brown
Hi Zion I’m glad to see that you are have a great time and learning at the same time .. I was extremely happy to hear your voice yesterday. I enjoy reading the blogs and sharing the photos with family! Can’t wait to learn more about your experience when you return home. Love mom!
O’shay
Zion! You’re an international basketball player now! lol Glad to see you’re having fun! I’m wondering if you made that shot. The fam misses you. Looking forward to hearing all about your trip when you get back.
Marc Palmieri
This was so exciting to read. Congrats to all on this life changing adventure, meeting amazing new people, and learning so much!
Kristen Palmieri
You know that I have tears in my eyes while reading yours and Tyra’s post. I’m very proud of you and all your fellow Glimpsers. It seems like you are making the very most of your experiences, while appreciating the beautiful surroundings, delicious food, & incredible people. Glad you had time to go thrifting too! Can’t wait to see all of the shorts you’ve purchased. Hoping the children and their teachers are able to use all of your donations. Wish we could have sent more! Love that you discuss a daily quote and reflect on your daily experiences. Hoping you are all able to discuss how grateful you feel about being about to travel to Costa Rica. This is truly a once in a lifetime experience. Love you very much! xoxoxo
Mom
Elena Batista
Hola: extraño muchísimo a mi adorable mel, [crismel ] te espero con los brasos abiertos, me encanta verte y saber que estas experimentado tantas cosas maravillosas, sé que puedes volar alto diviértete mucho aprovecha al máximo cada actividad, y ojo no mires las espinas concéntrate en lo bella que es la rosa 🌹 mami te ama y estoy feliz porque ya estas casi de regreso
Shau-Shanna
Hi Tahlia,
I hope you’re hanging in there ❤️ we are rooting for you. It was so nice getting to talk to you last night🥰. I can just imagine how far away you feel. I know you are safe and made friends so I’m not too worried.
The dish in the photo looks like a Jamaican dish yum! Can’t wait to hear about the action project. The little kids miss you, we all do! Ilias was took excited to miss the bus this morning LOL so he stayed home.
We love you forever!
Talk to you soon
Love, mommy ❤️
Lisa Miller
London, Nora and Ava! Hey girlie pops! Hope today was amazing for all of you! Sending love and big hugs. Love reading these everyday and it makes me feel like we are not 4,000 miles away from you!
Dusty Miller
Glad you all had a fun day. Love seeing pics of your adventures. We miss and love you!
Jon Palmieri
Nora,
We are so proud of you! It sounds like you and your group are having an amazing time exploring the parts of Costa Rica and tasting the fish and other delicacy’s.
Keep up the good work with your team and we can’t wait to hear more about it when you get back home.
We love you!!
Uncle Jonny and family
Emily Carlson
Nora – you make a difference in everyone’s lives you touch! You also always bring the fun!!!
I love your quote of the day today – I haven’t heard that one, but love it and will sit with it especially when I want to order something so easily from Amazon!
Enjoy Costa Rica!
Treisy Gonzalez Garcia
My beautiful girl. God bless you. I’m glad you’re all well and enjoying that beautiful country and its culture… I hug you from a distance. You know that Mommy loves you. ❤️ Angela Garcia
Greg
Very on point that Matt found a way to still play some basketball despite being thousands of miles from home! You’re missing lots of NBA free agency news – can’t wait to catch you up (and of course hear all about your trip)! Love, Dad
Maria Killeen
Hi Nora!! I’m so proud of you! This is an experience of a lifetime! The food sounded amazing! I can’t wait to hear more about your adventures! I love you so much and stay safe!! Love, Aunt Maria and Uncle Kevin ❤️ 🥰😍
Geri Leon
Hi Nora
We loved reading your post about your day in Turrialba. Thanks to you and Tyra to telling us about your plans to help with the water pipes in the town. We know the elementary school kids will love learning from you. We are so proud of your efforts in Cost Rica
We love you, Grandma and Pa
Brianne Palmieri Donnelly
Nora and friends – Sounds amazing!! So proud of you. Enjoy this amazing experience.
Aunt Bri Uncle Andy Harriet and Sammy
Kathleen Seck
Hi Nora, This is dad’s Aunt Kathleen
I loved reading about you being today’s leader, and your adventures!!!
What a wonderful experience for you!!
You are amazing!!! I hope each day is as successful as today!! Great job!!!
Much Love from LI
Rafael Chang
Hi Emily,
Hola mi amorsito, it makes me very happy seeing you there, making new friends, doing all these things. I’m very proud of you amorsito, love you.
Laura Gaffney
Hi Nora and friends! It looks like you are having a great time, and really taking the time to experience the amazing culture around you. Remember to be safe and stay with each other, branch out and try new things, and most of all have fun and make memories! We can’t wait to hear about all the adventures when you come home! Love Laura, Tilly, and James
Grandma & Grandpa
So wonderful to hear all about your adventures with such detail! This is a wonderful experience you are having. Get everything you can from it! The food sounds amazing!
Bill Cowie
Nora – Great team recap and love that you’re experiencing new and exciting adventures. Cant wait to hear all about it next time the family is all together. Have a great time, safe travels, and I hope you make plenty of memories.
Love you, Uncle Billy
Jen Cowie
What a productive day! I love the questions at the start and end of each day…. And boy do those plantains look delicious! Love you Nora and so proud of all the good work you are doing!!!
The Rhode Island Palmieris!
We love you, Nora! Great job on the blog with Tyra. Have a blast and Happy Fourth!!!
Love,
Meg, Grace, Luke, Chris, Scott, Dublin, and Eddie!
Toby
Loving these updates and pictures–can’t wait to hear more about the water pipe project! Getting seriously jealous seeing the fantastic meals!
Manuel G
Hola Christian(Gigi)
Me da gusto y alegría saber que te la estás pasando bien hijo, mucho cuidado y precaución que bonita experiencia disfrútala y recuerda que te esperamos con los brazos abiertos te queremos mucho y te extrañamos
Atentamente
Papá y mamá
Dereko y Iker preguntan por ti
Ryan and Courtney Barthel
Hi Nora we are so glad you’re having fun in Costa Rica! Be safe and make a bunch of memories. love Uncle Ryan and Aunt Courtney.